Deliver Us
by Turned
Summary: A broken girl is delivered to the Cullens, by an unlikely messenger. How will they help her? Canon, AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N All characters are based on those created by Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

Deliver Us

I heard him coming, miles away.

"Carlisle..."

Interrupted by Alice's blurred form, passing me to the door, I waited.

"There's a girl, Edward."

I knew. Her name was Bella, as his distraught thoughts had told me.

"Why...I can't see them! I see her, but not now." Alice turned to me, grabbing me. "Who is she?"

By now, Carlisle and Esme had shown up, Jasper behind them.

"Edward?" my father asked.

"Someone's coming. He's bringing a girl..." This was the confusing part. "She's not dead." Over and over, I heard the phrase.

"Who are they?"

I shook my head. "Alice can't see them, but I hear him. I don't know. The girl's name is Bella."

Carlisle's eyebrow's raised. "Bella Swan? Can you hear her?"

"No." I opened the front door of our home. "Just him."

We watched the man, a boy, really, come through the trees, a body limp in his arms. Jasper instinctively stepped in front of Alice, and Carlisle held Esme back from rushing to the girl's aid. We all smelled the venom, and we all saw the boy's agony.

"What is he?" Alice whispered. Not completely human, for sure.

"Jacob Black," Carlisle said gently in greeting. He slowly moved down a step from us, toward the pair. "I knew your great-grandfather."

Jacob hated this, hated us, hated himself for what he was about to do. "She's..." His voice gave out, refusing to crack in front of us. "Did you...?"

"You know we would not," Carlisle assured him.

"What's going on?" Alice demanded.

Carlisle ignored her, easing his way to them. "What do you need, Jacob? How can we help?"

After a long moment, Jacob broke, sinking to his knees, not letting the girl go. "They'll kill her," he sobbed. He loved her, it was almost too intimate to overhear his thoughts. "They'll kill her."

"Charlie's daughter?" Carlisle asked quietly, and Jacob nodded, shoulders heaving. "Does he know?"

"He doesn't know she's gone yet. I found her last night..." He finally laid her on the ground in front of himself.

"On patrol?"

Something about all this was wearing on Jasper. "We need to find who did this..." he started.

It wasn't what Jacob wanted to hear. "I lost the trail bringing her here."

"Jacob..."

"I can't..." He couldn't let her go, he couldn't leave her here with us.

Esme kneeled across from him, beside the girl. "You could stay."

"He can't, dear. The pack won't let him," Carl explained.

I glanced at Alice and Jasper.

"They'll know if I phase." He nodded to himself, staring at Bella. "I'll have to leave..."

Carlisle nodded as well, his thoughts surprising me.

"He's a wolf?" I blurted. Had the girl been a wolf? "How can she stay with us?"

"We didn't do this to her!" Jacob yelled, springing to his feet.

"Neither did we," Jasper said evenly. "Carlisle, we can't stay, either. Not if we keep her."

Esme's voice was firm. "We're keeping her. We have at least two more days until she awakes." Such a gentle way of saying it.

"You understand what you're asking of us?" Carlisle asked, staring hard at Jacob. "There has to be an understanding. We have not broken the treaty."

"What treaty?" Jasper demanded.

"Between our kinds. We don't hunt humans, the wolves leave us alone." He continued to hold Jacob's gaze. "And we certainly do not turn them."

Alice had been silent. "They won't come for us. But we don't stay." She shook her head. "Edward..." I caught a glimpse, of the girl and I, but Alice shut it off. She carefully approached Jacob, despite Jasper's growls of disapproval. "She's going to be okay, Jacob. She's going to be happy."

He ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head violently. "I couldn't do it-"

He'd thought about killing her. Killing her for good.

"I don't know what's worse." His eyes pleaded with Carlisle's. "I didn't know what to do!"

I couldn't blame him. It was nothing any of us would have necessarily chosen.

"Does Charlie know about you?" Carlisle asked suddenly. He was thinking about Bella's trail, leading to us.

"No. But he'll be combing the woods between here and the rez." Jacob was slowly backing away from us. "They'll know...once I phase, they'll know. I'll try not to, as long as I can."

His mind revealed, that his thoughts would be shared once he reverted to his wolf form, a pack mind. It was fascinating, to me, at least.

"We won't leave her," Esme promised, smoothing the girl's long hair.

Jacob nodded, and roughly wiped his eyes. "Tell her I'm sorry..."

"You'll see her again, Jacob," Alice said.

"Okay," he whispered. He turned and disappeared the way he came.

"A newborn, Esme," Carlisle started.

Jasper was torn. He was the last to join our family, but the one with the most experience with new vampires. "I don't like it. We don't know who did this, or why."

"He interrupted it," I broke in. "I heard Jacob. He was...patrolling...and smelled one of our kind. He thought it was us." And it had just about killed him, when he realized Bella was the victim.

"Whomever it was must have panicked," Carlisle surmised. "They're quite impressive in their wolf forms."

"I had no idea," Alice admitted. Neither had I.

"Did you see where he found her?" Jasper was in military mode, preparing for battle.

"A red truck, the side of the road. The first turn-off from the beach..." He took off before I could finish. "What is that smell?" I asked.

"Ugh, I know. Like wet dog," Alice complained, kneeling by Esme.

"No." It wasn't, though I could smell that, too. It came from the girl. Her clothes, or maybe her hair. I moved to the other side of them. "It's her."

"She still smells human...mostly," Alice observed, fingering the girl's bloody shirt sleeve. "Poor girl."

Before I knew what I was doing, I dropped beside her body, leaning over her.

"Edward," Esme chided.

"Her smell." It was her. I breathed her in, deeply, running my face along her wounded neck, along her shirt where her blood had run. It was heady, like nothing I'd ever smelled before.

"Don't," Alice warned. She'd seen me lick it, the blood from her.

"I won't," I lied.

"Uh huh."

Too late, I'd seen inside Alice's head. "Alice?"

"What is it?" Esme asked, confused. They all were.

"It's something, isn't it?" Alice asked.

None of the humans, no other vampire...no one's scent pulled me like this one. "Is she?" I was afraid to hope, to even ask.

Esme's smile was as broad as Alice's.

"You have to be kidding me," Jasper complained.

The same word bounced through everyone's mind. Mate.

"But I don't even know her," I protested. The boy loved her. Didn't she belong to him?

"It's her," Alice proclaimed confidently. "I see it."

I looked at the broken girl in front of us, mere hours into her transformation. "I don't."

Alice jumped to her feet. "Just wait."


	2. Chapter 2

Deliver Us

"So he stumbles across them, as a wolf..." Jasper reviewed. "The pack would have seen it?"

"I suppose so." Alice and Esme had rushed Bella upstairs, and my eyes seemed glued to the ceiling. "Depends on how much thought he gave to it at the time."

"He must have phased back immediately. Perhaps he didn't come straight here," Carlisle mused.

"How much time until he phases again?"

"He's driving towards Canada," I said absent-mindedly. "What?" They both stared. "He's giving us time." Bella's moans were audible to all of us, though I seemed to be the only one noticing them. "Is it always like this?"

"Everyone's different," Carlisle said. He'd been the one to turn me and Esme, I had to take his word. "I think you and Alice should go with her. And Edward, of course," he added. "I can't just up and leave the hospital."

"Alaska?" Jasper asked.

"No." I had no desire to bring my possible mate anywhere near the Denali coven. "How about Montana?" We had a lodge of sorts, separate quarters, plenty of space.

"Not Alaska!" Alice piped in from upstairs.

"Fine. We should leave by morning." Jasper was up the stairs before we could object.

"He's protective," Carlisle offered, smirking at my scowl.

"He's hypocritical." Given his violent past and relatively short history with our family, Jasper was proving to be the least welcoming of our new addition. "He'll need to get over it."

"Now who's being territorial?"

"I could leave with her myself," I offered, not knowing from where my sudden bravado was coming.

Carlisle laughed. "Alright, calm down. Let's play nice."

We stared at each other. He was concerned, about many things.

"This will work out," he said hopefully. "I believe it."

"No, you don't."

He laughed again. "But I want to believe it."

"You are a preacher's son," I pointed out. In his head, he warned me to go easy, to tread lightly. "I have no intentions of taking on Jasper, Carlisle," I assured him.

"I meant with her."

"Ah." Her.

"Yes, ah."

Alice called to me silently. To come see her.

"We need to get her a bed," Esme fretted, as I watched from the doorway of my bedroom. They had laid Bella out on the large sofa I had.

"There are beds at the lodge," Alice said, pulling me closer.

"Why is she in here?" I asked. Not that I minded.

"We need to pack." Meaning, Alice needed to pack.

Once Alice left, Esme and I watched, though I had no idea what I expected to see.

"She's lovely," Esme sighed.

Bella was. Her humanity was already leaving her, her flesh beginning to resemble ours.

"Did you know her in school?" Esme asked. We settled on the floor next to my couch, and though my mother and sister had scrubbed the last of Bella's human blood from her, whatever I was getting from her still settled throughout me.

"I don't recognize her, no." I remembered hearing about the new student, Isabella, but I had not seen her. "I don't know if she actually made it to school yet."

My mother's compassion was palpable. "Her father is such a good man."

"Is he?" At times, we had all separated from one another. I could not imagine what it would be like for Bella's father, once she disappeared.

"This won't go well." She stood, bending to kiss me before leaving. "Keep an eye on her."

It already wasn't going well. Alice's mind was a flurry of activity and images, and I knew she was trying to hide them from me. Jasper was the most worried, the most angry at this turn of events. Carlisle was...resigned. He had always had the broadest view, the strongest ability to see the farthest, farther than any of us.

And Bella.

I couldn't remember my human feelings of fatigue, or hunger, or any of the sensations associated with physical desires such as those. But with Bella, there was a pull, from which I ached for relief. It embarrassed me, it brought out my shyness. She couldn't see me, but I was almost afraid of her suddenly opening her eyes, that I'd be caught looking.

There was room on the couch, so I slid next to her, careful not to touch her. Would I make the pain worse? What would she think, when she did finally open her eyes, and see the world as a vampire? She knew none of us. How would she cope?

Her sudden breaths startled me, and I impulsively wrapped my arm loosely about her waist, resting my chin above her head. Without thinking I began to hum, every classical piece I could think of, willing her jerking body to calm and her cries to quiet.

I didn't notice Jasper in the doorway, watching.

"We're ready."

"Okay." I stood up. "I should, uh..."

"Bring her. Esme packed your things." He turned abruptly to leave. "We're taking Emmett's truck."

A ridiculously large man-toy monstrosity, but it would allow Bella to lay down. "Got it."

Carlisle and Esme would remain, Emmett and Rosalie were expected home soon from their 'semester abroad,' and the rest of us had been dispatched to live with an ailing relative for a few weeks. Plausible, I supposed.

Jasper drove like the proverbial bat out of hell.

"I met her once, you know," Alice offered, grinning back at me. Bella's head rested in my lap, my hand in her hair.

"Oh?"

"Jasper remembers." He did not offer anything.

"What was she like?" I was surprised by the regret I felt, at not having known Bella until now.

"Clumsy! She bumped into me in line at the drug store. She was very sweet." Alice hummed happily at the memory. "I knew that someday I would know her better. And now I do."

"Do you think she'll recognize you?" I asked, feeling somewhat desperate for Bella to feel comfortable around us.

"Yeah, she'll recognize me."

"We should have taken a faster vehicle," Jasper grumbled, slowing down for a speed trap.

"What about the wolf?"

"No, I've never met Jacob." Alice frowned and turned to me again. "And I can't see him at all."

I swallowed unnecessarily and gripped Bella's hand. "He loves her."

There was silence in the front seat for awhile. Finally Jasper spoke.

"I have to admire him, bringing her to us."

We all mulled that over.

"Carlisle told me something interesting about the wolves," Alice said. "Apparently they have the same mating thing we do, only they call it 'imprinting.'"

"What's your point, darlin'?" Jasper asked gently.

"Carlisle said, like vampires, they each have one true mate." She stared at Jasper, willing him to see her point. "Would you have given me up?"

"Of course not," he replied. "I can't." He didn't believe it possible.

Alice looked back at me, at my grasp on Bella. "Carlisle doesn't believe he was her mate, Edward. Neither do I."

Neither did Jasper, though he didn't say it.

In truth, I didn't know what to think. I looked down at the girl in my lap, in my mind, a complete stranger, not quite even a fellow vampire. Since first touching her, I hadn't stopped. For now, I wasn't letting go.


	3. Chapter 3

Deliver Us

We had reached an impasse, the four of us.

"Alice isn't staying with her."

I had to hunt. "You're not staying with her," I replied. Nor did I want Bella to be alone. Especially alone with Jasper.

Alice stepped between us.

"Darlin'," Jasper started.

"For God's sake, what is wrong with the both of you?" she asked impatiently. "You trust Edward with me," she shot at Jasper. "And you," she went on, poking me in the chest. "You trust Jasper with me."

"You're his mate," I said.

"Uh huh." She looked back to where Bella rested fitfully on the bed and raised an eyebrow. "Jasper and I will stay...outside."

I moved to the porch, waiting. Jasper came out first.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't," he replied. For the first time since leaving our home, I felt his push. He wanted me to feel better about leaving, to feel better about doubting his intentions. But I could only battle my thirst for so long.

"You don't have to placate me," I said gruffly.

Immediately, his empathy retreated. "Sorry."

"Don't." I leapt from the porch and sprinted toward the trees. "I won't be long," I promised, knowing he could still hear me.

I didn't go far. The animals here were larger, heartier. I would have preferred meat-eaters, perhaps another time. Perhaps the next time, Bella would be with me.

It thrilled me, and away from the others, I allowed it. I was far enough from them, that their minds were silent. And I was aroused enough not to care what Alice did or did not see.

I had died a virgin, as I had lived since. It was not for lack of offers, there had been plenty. Part of my celibacy had been my conservative, though brief, upbringing. In my day, young men courted women, they married them. At least, as far as my parents had taught me. I had never felt anything sexual for any of my human victims, though I had chosen men, and despicable ones at that. I considered myself heterosexual, and since meeting Bella, I was confident of it.

I shed my clothes and slipped into the stream I'd crossed. My sexual activities were usually restricted to this, much to my family's amusement. My brother Emmett was especially annoyed that he could never catch me with my pants down, as he liked to complain. If he only knew how often my pants were down, he'd run the other way. He liked to wonder if I even had a penis, while I wondered how it still remained attached to me, as much as I handled it.

I couldn't help but imagine the world that was possibly about to open to me, quite literally, as I stroked myself below the water. I was more and more attracted to Bella, and it was to visions of the little I had seen of her body that I came, hard, the cold water of the stream hiding me. What would I do when she rose? She'd smell it on me, she'd see it in my body. Hell, my dick would probably try to touch her before I could stop it.

True to their words, my sister and brother-in-law were waiting on the porch, chatting about improvements the lodge needed, going into town to buy Bella some things she needed. Deliberately talking about everything and nothing.

"Tomorrow night, I think," Alice said lightly, leaping from the step to greet me.

Jasper rose and dusted off his hands. "We should probably talk before then."

I nodded and stared up at the cabin. They were staying in the main house, leaving Bella and me to each other.

"Do you want to meet up later?" Alice offered.

"I think we'll stay in." It was absurd, talking about Bella as if she had a choice, as if we were two couples on holiday. They were driving to the nearest town, and I waved unnecessarily as they departed.

Our cabin was sparsely furnished, three rooms. It had been the caretaker's lodging at some point. There was a bookshelf, furnished by me during a previous stay, and I removed a book at random, settling myself once again next to where Bella lay. Alice had changed Bella's nightgown again, assuring me it would be the last time until she rose.

"I hope you like the classics," I murmured, trying to find a position to accommodate Bella's constant writhing, so as not to throw the book from my hands. She calmed somewhat as I began to read aloud.

Two novels later, Jasper and Alice returned. I heard items dropped onto the porch outside, but did not move from Bella's side. I couldn't help holding her, trying to soothe her. Her cries were less frequent, and her heartbeat was the most erratic it had been. Alice was right, it was coming.

It was well into dawn by the time they called to me.

I knew Jasper's concerns. Her strength would be great, she would be confused, her thirst would overpower her. He worried for Alice's safety, and he worried for me. I was surprised.

"What concerns you about me?" I asked.

"If I have to use force..." he said, his voice trailing off. I had known my entire family, excluding the two of them, as newborns. Emmett had been the worst, followed closely by Rosalie.

"I've been through this before, Jasper," I said dryly.

"This is different."

Alice had been focused on Bella, perched at her feet, one of her hands resting on Bella's ankle. "Carlisle met her once, too, Edward. Outside the hospital, with her father. He said he liked her."

How had most of my family known this girl? "What else did he have to say?"

"His impression was that she was intelligent, but really reserved."

"At least you'll have that in common," Jasper drawled, stretching out on the couch. "You know the electricity works, right?"

I hadn't thought about it, so I switched on the lights. "Do you think a fire would scare her?"

"No idea."

"Listen to her poor heart," Alice said sadly.

As compassionate as I wanted to be, I was, deep down, excited. I was impatient, dying from curiosity, and hopeful in a way I couldn't ever remember being. It amused Jasper.

"Your restraint rivals Carlisle's," he observed.

"So I've heard."

"Shh! Listen!" Alice demanded.

Bella's heart beat like a hummingbird for a moment, before abruptly stopping.

"Sweetheart," Jasper said quietly, pulling Alice from the bed. "Give her some room."

Suddenly, I felt her. She was in me, dragging me across the room toward her. "Bella?" I whispered. "Open your eyes, sweetheart." I took her hand and kneeled on the floor beside the bed.

Jasper was warning me from his head, and Alice was beyond happy.

Bella's eyes went wide, and before I could speak, she pulled away her hand and leapt from the bed, flattening herself against the wall on the other side.

She breathed heavily, tasting the air in her mouth, wildly looking around the room. Her head cocked when her eyes spotted Alice. "What...what...?" she asked. "Alice?"

Bella's voice was wonderfully low, vibrating emotion in me through my chest. It was how I felt when I first smelled her, how I felt touching her, how I felt touching myself in the stream. Immediately she fixed on me.

"I...I know...you're her..." Her hands flailed through the air before settling on her heaving chest. She looked helplessly at them, down her body. "What's wrong with me?"

"Bella." Alice's voice was clear and sharp. "You've been asleep for a few days."

"Wha...?" She looked to me again, and I realized then she couldn't help it, she was somehow drawn to me, as I was to her.

"Do you remember anything, Bella? Do you remember what happened to you?"

We had discussed this, that perhaps the best way to start, was with her last memories as a human.

"There was...I was driving..." She glanced back to me again, before looking to Alice. Jasper remained still behind my sister, waiting. He apparently felt no danger, much to his surprise. He was torn, and it was bothering him. Bella swallowed before going on. "There was a person."

"Where, honey?" Alice asked encouragingly.

"On the rode," Bella continued, nodding her head. Her demeanor abruptly changed, and Jasper gasped. He did not trust her sudden calmness. "I stopped." Her breathing had slowed down, and a part of me pitied her, as she had no grasp of what she had become.

"Did you see this person?" Alice hoped Bella had seen the vampire, that she would see that the vampire who attacked her, was not one of the ones in the room with her now.

Bella slowly nodded, her memories catching up with her. "On the road...I stopped." She blinked a few times, looking around the room again.

"She knows," Jasper said, reaching for Alice.

Bella stepped from the wall, frowning at each of us. "I was...she..."

We were all hit with a sense of calm then, the effect visible most on Bella.

"It bit me," she said seriously. "It bit me," she repeated softly, and her hand grazed her neck.

"Do you know what bit you, Bella?" Alice asked gently.

Bella was quiet for a beat, before settling her gaze on me. "Vampire."


	4. Chapter 4

Deliver Us

My gut told me to explain, while Jasper's head warned me to retreat.

"We don't know who did this to you, Bella," I said. Her mind was still silent to me, but her distrust was easy to feel.

She nodded again, assessing us. "How did I...? Where are we?" How she remained so calm, was mind-boggling.

Alice was desperate to talk to her, to make it better. "This is one of our homes. Since you've...changed, it was safest to bring you here."

"Do you need to feed, Bella?" Jasper asked, stepping from behind Alice.

He probably should have stayed where he was.

Bella's eyes narrowed as she crouched and shied back to the wall again. Possibly, the sight of Jasper's multiple scars, or his protective stance with Alice had tipped off Bella's heightened instincts, but we had also unintentionally backed her into a corner.

"I want to leave," she whispered.

"Back off, Jasper," I growled. I stepped between the three of them in an attempt to block Bella's view.

He only mentally chastised me for showing her my back.

I slowly turned to face her and held up my hands. "You must be thirsty."

Her swallow and grimace could not be missed. "I can't...I can't bite..."

"Bella?"

"I can't..."

"We don't bite humans. We would never..." I gestured to her scarred neck. "We don't do that." I moved to the door and held out my hand. "Come, I'll show you."

"Edward."

Alice humphed and pulled Jasper out of the way. "Let them go. She needs to feed."

Bella reluctantly inched toward me before realizing how she was dressed. "I'm not...do I need...?" Of all the things to focus on...

"You won't get cold anymore," I assured her. "Did you want to change? We have clothes for you."

She only shrugged as she moved closer, giving Jasper and Alice a wide berth. What she wanted most, was to be away from Jasper.

"We'll be at the main house when you get back," Alice called out behind us.

I broke into a slow run, grabbing her hand as I did, so she would have to follow. Soon, Bella grunted, shaking free from me to go faster. "Jump," I said, as we approached the stream. She did, overdoing it a bit, and my dead heart rose into my throat at the sound of her laughter.

"Edward," she gasped, looking for me as I caught up to her. "I've never seen..." She smiled widely at me, throwing her arms toward the sky before before bringing her hands to her face. "It's so..." Her face immediately fell, and so did mine.

"Bella?"

"What happened to me?" she asked in a whisper.

"I promise to tell you." But she had to feed. "Just listen."

I watched her still, silent, until her nostrils flared slightly.

"Do you smell them? Can you hear their heartbeats?"

Bella nodded, moving gracefully as she followed with her nose. She was beautiful, and I had to fight my arousal for her as she stalked away from me toward her prey.

A pair of elk were poking their way through the moonlit trees while we watched, oblivious to what was about to happen. "You're faster, don't worry. You'll know where to bite."

She distractedly waved her hand at me and moved forward. She had no difficulty overtaking the animal, but her drinking was rough, coating the front of her gown in blood. Watching her straddle the struggling beast only increased my own desires.

"It still burns," she rasped, staring down at her chest once she was finished. "It didn't taste very good, either."

"We'll find some others," I promised.

We eventually followed our route back to the stream, where Bella surprised me by kneeling to wash her face and hands in the water. By the time she finished, her gown was soaked, and she may as well have been wearing nothing.

"Here," I said, handing her one of the shirts I was wearing.

"Thanks." She sat on the bank and hugged her knees to her chest. "When do we have to be back?"

"We don't."

"Okay." Her attention was on the water, leaving me free to focus mine on her. "Why do I smell like you?"

"What do you mean? Like a vampire?"

"No." She shifted to face me, her eyes huge. "Why is your smell all over me?"

"Oh." I didn't know how to answer her. "I've, uh...I've been staying with you the last few days." Laying with you, holding you, I wanted to say.

"Are you the one, who found me?"

I shook my head. "You were brought to our house in Forks."

"By whom?"

I cleared my throat, something I hadn't done in decades. "Jacob Black brought you to us."

Her reaction, or lack thereof, was not what I expected, and I didn't know whether to be relieved or alarmed. "I didn't know he knew you. Or, knew of you."

"Did you? Know of us?" Who was this girl?

"Not until I saw you. Only stories. Jacob was actually the one who told them to me." She leaned her cheek against her knee. "He must have been a mess."

"He was...heartbroken," I admitted, watching her bury her face under her arms.

"My father, Edward..."

In a flash I was next to her, holding her to me. "I'm sorry, Bella."

"It's not your fault," she sniffed into my chest.

"If I could take this back for you..." I probably would have, but now, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

She lifted her head. "Is it bad? Do you hate what you are? Am I going to hate it?" Bella eased back onto her heels to stare at me. "What will it be like? Will I live with your...family?"

"That's a lot of questions," I hedged, trying to gather my thoughts, difficult to do with her so close and her hand on my thigh. "It's not...bad."

"Are you happy?"

That almost made me laugh. "I am now." She had no idea, the change she had brought. I hadn't been unhappy the entire time. I had been...occupied? Content? But now that I had her...

"Bella? Why aren't you angry?" Where was she hiding it? Why wasn't she raging against it?

"I am angry. Just not with you." She pulled back silently and stood. "I've always been good at suppressing...never mind."

I wondered if this was what made her mind unreachable to me, her ability to shove down her emotions and thoughts. There was so much to tell her.

"You've been really kind to me, Edward," she said sadly. "Thanks."

"Why does that sound like a farewell?"

"Where would I go?" She motioned for me to follow her.

"You know," though she didn't, "most of our kind don't live in groups as large as ours. You aren't obligated to live with my family." I gave her a brief explanation of my 'parents' and 'siblings' as we walked back to the cabin.

Her next question stopped me in my tracks.

"Where's your wife?" It was several steps until she realized I was not next to her. "Oh my gosh, Edward!" she exclaimed, rushing back to me. "Did something happen to her? I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked!"

"No, it's not-"

Her head shook quickly back and forth. "It's none of my business, forget I asked." She darted ahead of me, running the rest of the way. I supposed I was keeping my feelings too much to myself. While I was glad I was not pushing my feelings too obviously at her, I didn't want to push her away with my subtlety, either. Alice would have my head.

I gave Bella some space, taking my time to return. I was puzzled when the front door came off the hinges as I opened it.

"I did that," she said glumly.

"Why are you on the floor?"

She pointed to the flattened chair by the table. "I ripped the book apart, too."

"It gets better," I said, sliding down the wall next to her.

"That's what I always thought about my life before."

"Was it...bad?" I asked cautiously.

"Not really." She sighed and threaded her arm through mine. "I was content, I think."

"Bella-"

"I'm not...I'm not doing too well, here, Edward. I'm not sure I'm not gonna lose it in a minute. Are Alice and Jasper around? Because I really don't want to see them." She was on her feet, pacing.

"Look at you," she rambled on. "You said you're happy, right? Those guys seem really happy together," she said, gesturing toward the other house. "You're...functioning. Helping new vampires, or whatever you call it. I'm guessing you all have some sort of...income." She seemed to be convincing herself of something. "And you don't kill people, right?"

"No one expects you to adjust to this overnight, Bella."

"I know," she said quickly, lying. She was absolutely taking this out on herself, pretending it wasn't as awful as she knew it to be.

"It's been one night." Cut yourself some fucking slack, I wanted to say. "You are...extraordinary, trust me."

"Ha, because you're here." She laid face down on the bed in defeat.

"No, this is all you. I've never seen anything like you, honestly. The rest of us climbed the walls, sinking our teeth into everything within reach." I sat next to her and leaned against the headboard. "You...you stop to wash your hands...you try to read a book."

"If you're trying to point out how ridiculous I am-"

"Stop!" She was being ridiculous, but not in the way she thought. "Just stop."

Her voice was small, muffled by the pillow. "If you have to leave..."

"What?"

"I'd understand."

"Why would I leave?" Oh God, did she want me to leave?

"It's not like you can stay with every vampire, right? Eventually you'll have to help someone else."

I forced her to roll over so I could see her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Isn't this your job?" she asked, confused. "You said I was brought to you."

"Your body was laid in front of my family's home in desperation. We were chosen as a last resort...because we were vampires. Not because we run some sort of...vampire training school."

"Why would you all do this, then?" she asked with disbelief.

"Why do you not believe we would want to help you?" I countered.

Bella rolled back to face the ceiling and was quiet for a moment. "I like to read. Probably more than anything. I thought it might...calm me down."

I reached beside the bed for one of the books I had read to her while she turned.

"Then here," I started, loudly clearing my throat until she smiled. "Allow me to help."


	5. Chapter 5

Deliver Us

Bella's hand flattened itself across the book, startling me.

"I'm sorry, should I stop?"

"No, I'm sorry. You must be sick to death of reading to me." She couldn't be more wrong. "Why am I not the least bit tired? It must be past midnight." Bella rolled onto her back and sighed.

Christ, I was an idiot. The things I hadn't told her.

"I should have said something earlier. We don't...we don't sleep."

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Ever?"

"No."

"Oh, my God, what do you do all night?" she asked incredulously.

I shrugged and held up the book. "I read a lot. Listen to music. I play the piano a bit."

"What about Jasper and Alice?"

"They...they uh, busy themselves with other activities."

"Oh...oh!" Bella sat up and moved to the foot of the bed. "Do you have to...is there someone you...?" She stood up but seemed to have no place to go.

"What? No, I don't have...they're paired off, my family. I'm not...with anyone."

She nodded and walked over to look out the window.

"What about you, Bella? Were you...seeing anyone?" Had she loved Jacob Black, as he obviously did her?

"No," she said softly.

It was not my place, but I couldn't help but ask. "Jacob seemed...rather close to you."

"Do you know much about the wolves?" she asked, still facing away from me.

"Very little," I admitted.

"We're not together," she said simply. "We're not 'paired off,' as you put it. Especially not now, I would guess."

"Now that you're a vampire?" I clarified.

"I was never his imprint." She looked to me to see if I were following her. "His soulmate. He wanted me to be, but I knew I wasn't. I guess what I'm saying is, if he were my soulmate, he'd be here right now, regardless of what happened."

I couldn't believe I was about to defend him. "He thought the pack would kill you."

"Then shouldn't he be here protecting me? Laying down his life for mine, if it came to that?" she asked, without a trace of anger. "Would you have handed me off?"

"I don't think it was easy for him-"

"No, I'm not saying that!" It was the most emotion I'd seen her express regarding the wolf. "If I were really his imprint? He couldn't have done it."

"You don't seem...upset by it," I observed.

Bella smiled then, surprising me. "It's a relief, actually. He did what he did because he loves me."

I pretended to look down at the book still in my hands, to focus on anything but what she was saying. The thought of her in love with another was crushing me, threatening to break me...

"And that's all it will ever be," she said, sitting next to me on the bed again. "He'll find someone, his real imprint, instead of being held back by his ideas about me."

I was struggling with her reasoning. "What if he believed in his ideas about you?" I believed in mine. I believed she was the one for me, I was hoping so.

"Edward," she insisted, grabbing my hand, "there was never that draw for me with Jacob." Bella stared at me so intently, I was lost. I'd forgotten what we were discussing, I'd forgotten why we were there. There was only her, and it overwhelmed me. If only I knew what she thought.

"I have to tell you something," I blurted.

She was immediately wary. "What?"

I'd never told anyone outright, outside of my family, of my telepathy. "After I was turned, I discovered a...gift, that I hadn't had before, as a human." She shook her head in confusion. "I can hear the thoughts of others."

"You mean like-"

"I can read minds. Almost anyone's." Bella had already started to pull away. "Except yours," I assured her, keeping her close. "I can't hear anything from you."

"Really?" She looked relieved.

"Your mind is closed to me." It was both a relief and source of frustration for me. "Most of the time, I enjoy the silence," I added, smiling, though Bella's face was full of sadness. "Are you upset, that I can't read your mind?"

"God, no." She squeezed my hand tightly. "How do you cope with that? You never sleep, and you can hear what everyone is thinking? Can you turn it off?" While she spoke, she unconsciously covered her throat with her free hand, and I cringed.

"You're thirsty."

"It's okay," she said, waving me off.

"It's not okay." I almost wanted to ask, what the hell was wrong with her, worrying about everyone but herself? "Let's find you something more interesting," I suggested, smirking.

"That's not funny," she said, shocked.

"No! I meant, something with claws, something worth eating. A mountain lion, perhaps. Big game." Not a human. "I don't make jokes like that, Bella." I left the broad humor to Emmett.

I took her further up in elevation this time, up into the trees. Dawn was breaking, and the view was distracting her.

"I can't understand you at all," I admitted, watching her watching the world around her.

"What? Am I doing this wrong? I wouldn't be surprised-"

"You're the most amazing creature I've ever come across, Bella!" I exclaimed. "You're not doing anything wrong. Your focus is..." I couldn't express it.

Suddenly my mouth was covered with her hand, and she pointed to the ground below us. I nodded and gently removed her hand. "Just remember, this one will fight. He can't hurt you, but he won't run."

I needn't have worried about her, I should have worried about what it would do to me, to watch her take on such a large predator. I could barely hang on without dropping from my perch to decimate the cat for her. And her moaning as she drank...

"Edward? Are you coming down?" she called. The shirt and gown she still wore were in tatters, and the beautiful smile across her face stirred such want in me.

"Coming," I replied, reluctantly leaving the cover of the tree. "Well done," I managed, fixing my eyes anywhere but on her.

"That was much better, you were right. My favorite so far." She nodded earnestly, seeking my agreement. "Is there a tub at the cabin?"

Yes, there was, a large one, one that could accommodate the both of us, no problem. "There is," I replied. "We'll go back."

"Do you need to..." she asked, feebly gesturing to the dead animal.

"Oh, no, I'm..." I wasn't sure that if I hunted with her, I wouldn't turn on her, attacking her in some type of pent-up sexual frenzy. I should probably hunt alone the next time. "I'm not hungry."

Alice's thoughts reached me, before we reached our cabin.

"Bella?" I asked, and she paused on the porch. "Alice wants to talk to me. To both of us, actually. Can you manage without me?"

She nodded unconvincingly. "I think I'm just afraid I'll break the tub or something. Or rip my clothes."

The idea of helping her dress hadn't crossed my mind, but I was more than willing to give it a go. Instead, I ran the bath for her and opened the closet door.

"How about you call me when you're ready to get out?" She didn't look so sure. "Or I could ask Alice to help?"

"No! I'll, uh...I'll call you if there's a problem. You'll be back soon?" she asked hopefully.

"I promise. I'll hear if you need me."

In a flash she hugged me tightly, placing a small kiss on my cheek before darting into the bathroom.

I'd be back before she left the tub.


	6. Chapter 6

Deliver Us

"How is she?" Alice was asking before I'd made it through the door.

"Remarkably well." I eyed Jasper as he entered the room opposite me, taking a seat next to my sister. "I don't remember the others being so...collected."

"I've never seen anyone like her, I have to admit," Jasper commented. His usually easy disposition was the opposite. I'd never felt such anxiety from him.

"Maybe it's just her," I offered.

"Maybe," he huffed.

I ignored his cryptic comments and smiled at Alice. "She's amazing."

"She is." When she didn't go on, I tried to listen in.

"You heard from Carlisle?" How had I missed that?

Alice glanced at Jasper before answering me. "Bella's father knows she missing. He found the truck."

"And?" I could see the truck as Jasper had as the images ran through his head.

"The police have been to the house."

"Our house?"

Jasper answered for her. "They don't suspect the family, they're just combing the area. Bella's the police chief's daughter, so..."

"Has anyone heard from Jacob?" I asked, before I heard the answer in Jasper's head. "They think Jacob took her?"

"They found blood near the front of her truck. They're both missing, so it's a logical conclusion."

"But it's absurd." I didn't know Jacob Black, but I'd seen him torn apart over Bella. "I would think anyone who knew the two of them would know better."

Jasper sighed. "I don't think her father is thinking straight at the moment."

"Carlisle spoke with the Elders," Alice said quietly, and I shook my head. "From the reservation. Jacob's family."

"Why?" I asked.

"Jacob still hasn't phased, so they're not sure where he is. He really is missing."

I was confused. "So why did Carlisle contact them?"

"He didn't think it was fair, for anyone to suspect Jacob of harming Bella." Knowing Carlisle, it was the sort of thing he would do. Jasper, however, didn't agree with Carlisle's sense of right and wrong. "He told them what happened."

"They checked out the 'crime scene' for themselves. Bella's truck is on tribal land," Alice explained.

"So it's not in Forks' jurisdiction," I finished for her.

"And," she emphasized, "Charlie Swan and Jacob's father are best friends."

I was quickly putting the pieces together. "Does Charlie know about the wolves?"

"No," Jasper answered. "So, there are two missing teenagers, a chief of police who can't technically pursue his daughter's disappearance, and a pack of angry wolves that want proof the local vampires haven't drained one of their own."

I looked to Alice. "And you can't see Jacob?"

"Or Bella, where Jacob's concerned. It must be a wolf thing."

I wanted to ask, what did she see concerning Bella and me, but it wasn't how Alice's gift worked. "Did the pack pick up anything at Bella's truck?"

"My scent, of course. They weren't too thrilled I'd been on their land. There was another one, though, mixed in with the blood. Carlisle's story made sense to them. They said it was something Jacob would have done for Bella."

"What type of proof are they looking for?" I asked.

"Take a guess," Jasper drawled.

"Bella?"

"Well, preferably Jacob, but Bella would do."

For the first time, I considered attacking my brother-in-law. And Alice had been expecting it.

"Jas, knock it off."

"Did you expect, that I would hand her over to them? What, for their inspection?"

Jasper stood, but Alice put herself between us.

"We barely know her, Edward. She doesn't have to be our responsibility. This thing is bigger than us, and if we don't shut it down now, we'll have an even bigger problem on our hands. She can't tell her father what she is, and the wolves will only wait so long until they decide to take it out on us."

Alice cringed at Jasper's words, but she didn't disagree with them. She was reciting poetry in her head, meaning she was hiding something.

I knew how to 'shut it down.'

"Edward..." Alice said worriedly.

"I know you've seen something, Alice. I've made a decision." Well, as much of one I could make, not having discussed it with Bella. Or the rest of the family. "Do you still see the same outcome."

She nodded. "Call Carlisle first, okay?"

"I will," I promised, reaching out to hug her. "I'll bring Bella before we leave."

"Leave for where?" Jasper demanded.

"Canada, if Bella's up for it."

"You think you'll find Jacob?"

"I'd like to try, before Bella's father does." I was sure, that if Jacob were apprehended, he'd never tell the truth. Nor could he. "I don't like what you've said, Jasper. So I'm absolving you of your 'responsibility.' I'll try to sort this out as quickly as possible, but for me, offering up Bella isn't an option."

"I didn't mean it like-"

"I get it. You're worried about your mate. So am I." I left without another word, hoping our voices hadn't been loud enough for Bella to overhear.

"Edward?"

Her scent flooded the cabin, the heat of the bath amplifying it. "It's just me."

Bella walked in from the bathroom, examining her shirt. "I managed to only rip the seam a little at the bottom-" She stopped mid-sentence upon looking at me. "What's wrong?"

I sat heavily on the bed, not knowing where to begin.

Bella cocked her head before coming to stand between my legs, offering me her hands. "Is something wrong with Alice?"

I enjoyed the feel of her, of the jolt her touch gave me. I briefly wondered how it would feel to lay with her, skin to skin, and had to stop myself. Instead, I moved further back on the bed, pulling her to sit beside me.

"Alice spoke to Carlisle," I started. We were still joined at the hand, and she squeezed mine. "Your father's looking for you." Bella nodded. "And the wolves are looking for Jacob."

"My poor father..." she whispered.

"He's...it looks like..."

"What is it?"

"You've both gone missing, so I'm sure Charlie doesn't know what to think," I explained.

Bella bolted upright. "Oh God, he thinks Jacob did something to me?"

"Carlisle spoke with Jacob's family, though. He knows them, I mean, we all know about each other. He told them what happened to you."

"But Charlie doesn't." I knew she understood how complicated the situation was. "He's not going to let this go."

"Neither will the wolves, Bella. They're looking for proof, to back up Carlisle's story." I hated putting this on her, none of it was her doing.

She was deep in thought and unconsciously leaned against my side. "We have to get a hold of Jake. I can't call my dad without talking to Jake first. If someone picks him up, he won't be able to tell them anything. Our stories have to match, don't they." She was way ahead of me.

"I was thinking we could call his family, at least corroborate part of the story," I suggested.

"Edward, I want my dad to know I'm okay."

I knew she did, but I didn't know when that would be. "I don't know that you can tell him the truth. Ever." We had rules about that, as Jasper had reminded me.

"We have to find Jake."

"I think so."

We sat together for a moment, each of us with our thoughts. "You don't have to do this," she finally said.

"Yes, I do."

"Is your family in danger over this?"

"That's not what I'm talking about," I said. "My family will be fine." They could be gone before the wolves even thought about it. It was nothing new to us. "I go where you go, Bella." It was the most I'd alluded to, the closest I'd come to admitting what she meant to me.

Bella lifted my arm around her and crawled under it to lay against my chest.

"I feel the same."


	7. Chapter 7

Deliver Us

"I saw you at school once."

"You went?" I ran my hand through Bella's hair, over and over, down her shoulder and back.

She shivered each time I came to the waistband of her jeans, but I didn't think she was aware of it. "For like, ten minutes. It was just a tour."

"Where did you see me?" I had never been more interested in a human's notice of me.

"Outside the cafeteria, I think. You were holding the door open for Alice." She tried to hide her smile against my chest. "I remember thinking, if all the boys in school looked like you, it wouldn't be so bad."

I wondered what it would have been like, if I'd seen her. If we'd met, or had a class together. Would I have even noticed her? We were so accustomed to blending in, to keeping to ourselves.

"You were there when I met Alice the one time, too. I even met your Dad. It's so strange," she mused.

"When you met Alice?" I had been there?

"You were outside, waiting for them, I guess. Her and Jasper. I saw you in the parking lot." She lifted her head to catch my eye. "In a silver car?"

I did usually drive, it must have been one of the many times Alice made me stop somewhere.

"I just figured you were all related or something."

Or something. Without thinking I pulled her closer, and she squirmed. "Sorry."

"No, I should..." She carefully moved away from me and off the bed. "Maybe I need to eat..."

I knew that wasn't her struggle, but I didn't argue. I knew what was bothering her, and it wasn't the urge to feed. It was my turn to hide my smile, and I had to wonder.

"Let's go out, then." I had to wait to call Carlisle, we had time.

We ran to the stream, this time following along instead of crossing.

"How close were you to Jacob?" I ventured.

My question obviously startled her. "What do you mean? I told you."

"That he thought you were his imprint."

"Uh huh."

"I just meant, what does that entail...exactly?" I was hopelessly clueless how to get the information I wanted from her.

"Edward?" Bella stopped where she was ahead of me and turned. "What are you asking?"

She was more perceptive than I credited her. "Nothing. It's none of my business. I'm sorry, I was just..." Hardly making conversation. Did it matter, if she were a virgin? If Jacob had staked a claim on her body, before I'd even known of her existence?

"What about you? Weren't you...married?"

Where she got that idea. "No! I've never been married, I'm not sure why you thought that."

"Oh. You said you were all paired off, so I assumed you had been, at some point...I mean, you've been like this...for awhile."

I was painfully aware how long I'd 'been like this.' "I've never been..." Not even close, but not for lack of want. "I've never been married." It was the most I could admit.

We both smelled it then, and Bella took off ahead of me. I stayed close enough to hear her, but it was admittedly getting harder to watch her take animals, and I still didn't dare feed with her near me.

"How was it?" I asked.

"Nowhere near the lion," she sighed, dropping next to me to lay down. I felt her hand grab mine, and she rested them on her stomach. "Some of this is amazing, Edward. It's hard to take in."

I tried to focus on what she was saying, but my hand, so close to so many things I wanted to touch. "I suppose..."

"You've been amazing," she said softly.

"I'm not, not really." She was, though.

We were quiet for awhile, listening. "Are you all this close?"

I wasn't sure what she meant. "Like my family? We're all pretty close. There's another coven we know-"

"No, I mean like us."

"Us?" There was an 'us?' I wanted there to be an 'us.'

Abruptly she sat up, dropping my hand. "I like Alice, she's fine. I'm sure Jasper is, too." No, she wasn't, but it was kind of her to pretend. "I mean, I prefer..."

"I like you, too, Bella."

She nodded and looked away, suddenly bashful. "Is it like this, then? When you like someone? For vampires?"

"Like what?"

"This!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "I can't...it's hard...I just want to touch you, and get close to you. I want to...I can't even look at you sometimes, there's this pull..."

I reached for her hand again, but she pushed me away with a huff. "Bella..."

"You've been so nice, and I think you've been honest with me." She peered at me in the darkness, her eyes narrow.

I sat up and turned to face her. "I've read about it. And I've heard it, of course, in the thoughts of others. I've seen it amongst my family. But I wouldn't know." I couldn't help but smile, what she'd admitted had filled me with such hope and happiness. "I know how I feel about you. That I've never felt what I feel, toward anyone else. Ever."

"Are you sure?"

I did laugh then. "I'm sure. You can ask my family." They'd suffered through my brooding long enough. My phone buzzed with a text message in my pocket. "Speaking of family..."

Bella rose, and I followed again, back to the cabin. Jasper and Alice were waiting outside.

"Hey! Do you want to come see the house?" I felt for my sister, she wanted so badly for Bella's trust and friendship.

I looked to Bella, who barely nodded. "Sure," I replied. "I was just about to call home." I felt her hand grasp the back of my shirt as we followed Jasper and Alice inside.

"Do you mind if we listen?" Jasper asked. We stayed divided, the four of us, with Bella decidedly behind me, all of us watching her examine the photos and objects on our side of the room.

"Not at all."

Carlisle answered immediately. "Edward?"

"How are you?"

"We're well, actually. How's Bella?" I glanced back, surprised to see her reaching for my phone.

"Dr. Cullen?" she asked softly.

"Bella?" Carlisle was as shocked as any of us, at her composure. We'd had some time to adjust, though. "You sound...you sound..." I'd never known him at a loss for words. "How are you adjusting?"

Bella looked to each of us and frowned. "It's okay." My sister and I laughed. "How's my dad?" Jasper leaned forward, fascinated with the conversation.

"He's coping, I believe." My mother could be heard then, in the background, saying something. "Esme, my wife, wants you to know she's been by to see him. She's brought him...dinner."

Bella turned her back to us and her hand went to her face. She sought a privacy impossible in a room of vampires. "Please thank her for me."

"I will."

"I think...I think I should call Billy."

"I'm glad to hear you say that. He hasn't heard from Jacob, I know it would...help." Carlisle's voice sounded as anguished as Bella's.

"Maybe he could tell Charlie that he heard from him...from us. What do you think?" she asked nervously.

We hadn't discussed any of this, but she'd obviously given it thought.

"I'd like Charlie to know I'm okay."

"Of course, I understand. We'll have to decide on a story. Billy might have some input..."

"Thank you for handling all this, Dr. Cullen. Your family's done so much..." She was starting to cry, and I couldn't just listen anymore.

I took the phone and handed it to Alice. "Bella?" My arms went around her, and I sat, pulling her with me onto my lap.

"Your mom brought him food," she whispered.

"I know, I heard."

Alice was somewhere in the house, still talking with our father, while Jasper sat and watched us. I thought he'd been hostile, and rude, but his thoughts were not. He was in awe. Compassion was something he'd never seen in a newborn, and Bella asking after her father had been the last straw, destroying every belief he held up until now.

"I owe you an apology, Bella," he said seriously.

She cleared her throat and raised her head from my neck to look at him. "It's not your fault, Jasper." She gestured to the scars that marred most of his skin. "It looks like you've had good reason."

He shook his head and smirked. "You're too kind." He stood as Alice came back, reaching out for her.

"So," she started. "Jasper and I have to go back home, before we miss too much school." She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

"Oh my God, I forgot about school!" Bella exclaimed.

"Ha! Don't worry, you can go again. And again. And again. Anyway, Carlisle thinks you should have help, if you decide to travel."

"Rose and Emmett are coming?" I asked. Carlisle was right. It was irresponsible to think I could handle Bella, if she smelled human blood.

"If that's okay?" Alice asked, smiling at Bella.

Bella was curious. "Who are Rose and Emmett?"

"Our other brother and sister," Jasper explained. "If you're serious about finding Jacob, it would be best to have another set of hands..."

"You haven't smelled a human yet, Bella. It's..." Alice's voice trailed off.

"It's different," I finished.

"It's okay, I'm not offended." She stood up. "When do they get here?"

Jasper snickered at my disappointment at losing her from my lap, and I growled. When Bella instinctively stepped in front of me to block me from him, it was my turn to laugh.

"Jasper," Alice warned.

"Your days of ridiculing me, it would appear, are over," I said.

"They make fun of you?" Bella asked. She looked my siblings over and frowned. "Why?"

"I cannot wait until Emmett gets here," Jasper said, rubbing his hands together. "She's stronger than he is right now."

Bella reached for my hand and backed us toward the front door.

"See you tomorrow?" I asked, and Alice nodded. Jasper was about to get an earful.

"I'm so sorry," Bella apologized, once we were back in the cabin. She disappeared into the closet, returning in what I assumed was her version of pajamas. I liked them. "I know we don't sleep."

"No, it's fine. You look nice." I gestured to the bathroom, and she nodded.

Bella spoke to me while I showered and changed. "Why do they make fun of you?"

"They don't, not in a cruel way." I dressed, and went out to find her on the bed. "I've been the number." Therefore, easy to single out.

"That's something to ridicule?"

"I'm not the easiest person to get along with, I suppose." It wasn't even necessarily that, I was just used to letting them all be. I laid next to her, and she handed me a book.

"I think you're easy to get along with." Bella stretched herself along my side, draping her arm and leg across me, her head on my shoulder. The smell...her...it was intoxicating.

There was no way I'd be able to concentrate on the pages. "You're not bored with reading, yet?"

"I like it even more, when you do it." She hummed contentedly as I opened the book. "Plus, I can't hold it for myself yet."

Something in me panicked at the idea of her becoming self-sufficient, of her not needing me, and she felt it.

"But even if I could, I'd still want you."


	8. Chapter 8

Deliver Us

"This must be getting monotonous."

Bella's profile was still as she spoke. Her thirst had driven us outside again, further this time, into steeper terrain.

"What must be getting monotonous?" I asked.

"Chaperoning me. Watching me...drink."

I frowned. "Nothing with you is monotonous, Bella."

Though she tried to hide it, I'd seen her smile.

"And I like watching you drink." I liked it too much. I'd have to sneak off before Alice and Jasper left, or I'd show her just how much I liked it. "Do you see me as your chaperone?"

Bella looked at me then, so openly, her eyes everywhere, that I involuntarily swallowed.

"No. I don't." She caught scent of something and bolted.

The herd was near, so I stayed. Humans couldn't hike or camp this far up, not this time of year, so I laid back and waited. She wasn't gone long.

"It reminded me of a reindeer," she said, sighing and dabbing at the blood on her jacket. "I may have been a klutz, but I was never this messy."

All I could see was the sun setting behind her, and her hair blowing about in the wind. Her hands stopped, and we both stared.

"Edward?" she asked, stepping closer to where I lay.

"Uh huh?" I couldn't move, I was a statue.

Bella dropped to her knees next to me. "What is this?"

"What is what?" I was a babbling statue, who couldn't ever answer a simple question from this girl.

She leaned down, peering at me, pieces of her hair now brushing my face. "Can I...?" she asked, as she gently straddled my body, resting on my hips. "Can I touch...?"

This wasn't lying in bed next to her, this wasn't reading while she pressed against me. This was between her legs, face to face.

"Bella," I said hoarsely. I'd come in my pants, it was only a matter of time.

The warmest smile graced her face, and she held her hands to my cheeks. "You make it so hard to be angry."

I had no idea what to make of her. "I don't...I don't get what-"

"I want to hate all of this, but I can't." She'd pulled me up, shifting us both, cross-legged around each other. I wanted her kiss, but instead she held herself to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I'm afraid," she whispered, so low.

I could only nod into her neck. The same fear gripped me, that she would leave, that she would want to leave, and what would be left behind.

"I stay with you," I replied, and her grip tightened, almost painfully.

"Okay," she choked out, and I realized she was crying.

"Bella."

"It's okay, I'm okay," she tried to assure me. I felt her kiss on my cheek as she pulled back to wipe her face. "I'm okay."

I suddenly glimpsed the human she must have been, quiet, purposeful, polite. Reserved, Carlisle had thought. "You're more than okay."

"Stop," she joked, but her face was serious. "When are the others coming?"

"Tomorrow?" Bella nodded, but stayed silent. "Are you worried?"

"I don't know what to think about what Jasper said. About Emmett."

"Oh. Emmett likes to tease me. He teases everyone, really." In his good-natured way.

The button she had absent-mindedly been fingering on my shirt popped off. "I don't like the idea of that," she admitted quietly.

"I think that was Jasper's point," I said, smirking.

"It's not a joke to me." I supposed I could add 'serious' to the list of Bella's attributes.

"Nor to any of us." I lifted her chin to see her eyes and smiled. "Know that they want to help, and that's where they're coming from. I do trust them." It was a shame that Bella's first interactions with our kind hadn't been Esme and Carlisle.

"I shouldn't have said anything. None of you have to do any of this..." She quickly left my lap and adjusted her clothes. "I should be grateful. I try not to think about what I might of done, if Jacob hadn't left me..."

She would have crossed our paths, but not before she rose. We weren't allowed to hunt on tribal land, where she'd been left. And God knows what would have happened if another passing motorist had found her. Perhaps Carlisle would have been working when she was brought to the hospital...

"Who do you think did this, Edward?" she asked, interrupting my thoughts.

That was a separate issue, and one that I suspected, bothered Jasper the most. "I don't know," I answered honestly. Nomads rarely traveled through our area. "We know when our kind is passing through, so it wouldn't be anyone we know."

"How do you know? Do you mean friends?"

It occurred to me then, that we hadn't spoken of Alice's gift. "No. I mean, we have...friends. The other coven I spoke of?" Bella nodded, and I went on. "They'll plan visits occasionally, or we'll travel to see them. In Alaska."

She offered me her hand, to help me up, and I stifled my laugh.

"Thanks," I said, rising to join her. "Alice knows sometimes, when others are coming. She has visions."

"No!"

I truly enjoyed Bella's reactions. "Yes. They're not perfect, but she's usually right."

"Did she see me coming?"

I shook my head. "She can't see anything involving the wolves, so no."

"What about now?"

It was a fair question, but I hesitated to answer. "It's a hard thing to qualify. It's good for warning us, but a vision changes with your actions. She tries most of the time to keep them private. You can ask her about it, if you like."

"No, you're right. It's not fair. It's like you with your telepathy. I don't know that I want to know what everyone's thinking all of the time, or what's about to happen. I don't know how either of you deal with it."

She was sympathetic, and it astounded me. I was used to my family speaking to me in my head, to others pestering Alice about the things she saw. They rarely hesitated to use our gifts as they felt necessary.

She caught me gaping at her. "What?"

"Nothing. You're very kind, Bella."

Her hands flew to her face, and she paused. "I used to be a terrible blusher. I guess I won't anymore."

"I wish I could have seen that," I admitted. She was beautiful to me now, though, so I couldn't imagine her more appealing than she already was. We were walking, instead of running, and I didn't mind.

"Do you think we would have met in school?"

"I have no idea. I pretty much kept to myself." Then I remembered my reaction to her blood as she lay in front of our house. "If I'd caught your scent...I'm not sure how friendly it would have been."

"If I'd caught yours, or heard your voice..." She laughed. "I'd never seen anything like you."

"Bella," I said abruptly, reaching for her arm.

"Hm?" she asked, turning and smiling up at me.

"I want to hate this, too. I want to be sorry for what happened to you. I want to be, but I'm not." A part of me hated myself for it, but the bigger, more selfish part, didn't. "I know that seems terrible-"

"No, I get it. I keep waiting for everything to, I don't know, crash in on me? Like, there should be a part of this, where I realize that I was almost killed. That I should be dead. That a vampire," she said, emphasizing the word, "attacked me. And now I am one." She was gripping me, with both hands.

"But it doesn't come." She looked at me as if I had an answer for her. "I don't know what the hell to think. What should I be thinking? All I used to do is think! I'll admit, I'm not in love with Jasper or Alice. Especially Jasper."

I opened my mouth to respond, but she waved me off.

"I just don't know them, yet. I realize that." She let go of me and continued walking. "I mean, really," she went on, gesturing with her hands, "why am I not going crazy?"

"Carlisle believes, we carry most of what we were, when we change. But our traits are amplified, when we-"

I was cut off with one look from her. "Really? You were telepathic before?"

"No, of course not. But-"

"I understand what you're saying, but that's not my point," she huffed.

I was thoroughly enjoying this passionate, fiery side of her. It had to surface at some point. "Go on," I encouraged.

"It's safe to say," she started, "that I was somewhat...serious, growing up. Not cynical, or jaded..."

Jasper would have a field day, were he to hear this conversation. He'd probably start calling me by her name.

"I had to be, and that was fine."

"Alright."

"But now..." She faltered a bit, losing her momentum. "Now it's just..."

"It's okay, if you're struggling now. Control is something we all struggle with, especially the first year." Some of us never get the upper hand.

"I'm not struggling, not how you think. That's not it." She took a long look at me before continuing. "I'm happy. Not a hundred percent, but it's there. Suddenly I'm thinking in cliches, silver linings, windows opening, all those ridiculous up with people sayings you read on marquees."

I shook my head, lost. She'd never said so much to me at one time, I struggled to follow her train of thought. "Okay."

"Don't you get it?" she demanded.

"Are you angry?" God knows I frequently pissed off my family.

"What? No, I'm not angry, that's my point. I should be, and I'm not."

Well, at least we were in agreement there. "I've said it before, I admire your control. I don't know how you're holding this all together."

She stepped toward me, and I instinctively held out my hands to her. "I know."

"You're extraordinary." And I'd tell her, show her, everyday if she'd let me.

She shook her head and smiled. "No, I mean I know how I'm able to do it."

"How?"

"You."


	9. Chapter 9

Deliver Us

Two mountain lions and one enthusiastic jerkoff later found me on the way back to the lodge, to the cabin, and Bella. I'd ducked out while she bathed, after making my sister promise to keep watch.

I was happy, too, just as Bella had admitted to being. But my steps slowed when I caught sight of her, standing silently against the back of the cabin, staring at the hills I'd just left. She watched for a moment, before turning and slowly going back inside.

"Hey," I said cautiously. She sat on the bed, a closed book on her lap. "Would you like me to read?"

Her head shook the slightest bit, and her gaze stayed lowered.

"I saw you outside."

"I wondered where you'd gone," she said quietly.

"Didn't Alice tell you? I had to hunt..." And then I realized the problem. Bella would probably never seek out Alice or Jasper without me around, so all she could do was wait. "I'm sorry." I was, I'd been stupid. Imagine if I'd found her gone. "I'm so sorry." I sat on the edge of the bed, and finally, she looked at me.

"Were you with someone?"

"What? No! Why do you ask?"

"You smell different."

Shit. I hadn't washed off in the stream. "Mountain lion?" I offered.

"That's not it."

I shrugged and made my way to the bathroom to wash my hands, feeling every bit like the cheating husband who was having an affair with his secretary. For once, I was grateful for Alice's intrusion.

"Knock knock!"

I could hear Bella open the door and greet her, welcoming her in.

"Everything okay?" Alice asked, glaring at me as I entered the room.

"I was apologizing to Bella for not having told her where I was," I explained, glaring back.

From her head, I got that Alice had hoped Bella would follow my trail and catch me in the 'act,' so as to move our relationship along. As if watching me masturbate would entice her. Wait, would it?

"Oh, why didn't you just follow him? I'm sure you could have easily tracked his scent," Alice offered innocently to Bella.

"If he'd wanted me with him, he would have asked me to go along," Bella replied. There it was, what was truly bothering her. That I'd chosen to go without her, that I didn't want her with me.

"Bella," I sighed. She couldn't be more wrong. "When do they get here?" I asked Alice.

"Not for a few hours." She looked between us. "Maybe we'll go meet them?" I nodded, and Alice clapped her hands together. "Okay! So...we'll see you soon, yes?"

Bella shook her head. "You don't have to leave-"

"It's hard, Bella, it's not your fault. It's...it's a lot, I know," Alice said kindly. "It'll get better, I promise. We'll talk soon!" She quickly left, and I could hear her barking orders at a confused Jasper back at the house.

"I should say goodbye to Jasper." She bit her lower lip in indecision, and my heart went out to her.

"If you want. I was thinking we could take a walk," I suggested. Anything to get the hell out of this cabin. "Why don't we take the house after they leave? Rose and Emmett won't mind staying here." There was more to do, and she had to be bored. The cabin would have been ideal for a newborn consumed with bloodlust, but that did not seem to be Bella's biggest struggle.

I took her hand this time, and she allowed it. I wasn't experienced with this, but I'd be damned if I messed it up. "I can't wait to hunt with you, Bella," I admitted. Perhaps that was what it was time to do, admit things. "I can't wait to do a lot of things with you."

We'd taken a different route this time, less steep, but closer to the lodge.

"So why are you?" That stopped me, and we stared at each other. "What are you waiting for?" she asked honestly.

I had no idea. "I know you're worried about your father...and Jacob."

"That's not going to change, Edward. It's not all I am."

"I'm afraid I'll...overwhelm things. Complicate them."

We'd come to a small clearing, and she let go of me to sit. "Did it occur to you, that you're the only thing keeping me together? That you're the one keeping me from being overwhelmed?"

No, it obviously hadn't. "I'm sorry." I hadn't seen it that way at all, though the idea thrilled me.

"Are you shutting me out from something? Is there something else going on?" she asked.

"No! Look, I left to hunt because I could, I didn't think anything of it. Sometimes we go together, sometimes alone. I came back as fast as I could. I hated being away from you."

She looked at me, startled, and I worried I'd said too much. "You felt that way, too?"

"Yes, of course." Mates were rarely separated.

"I don't miss Alice or Jasper that way."

There was a reason for that. "No, you wouldn't." I sank down as well, facing her.

Bella was struggling, picking at the blades of grass between us. "Are we...are we imprints?" she asked shyly.

"Vampires don't imprint," I said automatically, regretting it instantly as her face fell. I lowered my head to try to catch her eyes. "We have mates." I stilled her nervous hands with mine. "You're mine, Bella."

Her relief was immediate, and she sprang into my lap, wrapping herself around me, tightly.

"Careful," I croaked, "you're really strong."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she mumbled into my neck. "I thought I was crazy."

I loosened her grip to see her face. "Why would you be crazy?"

"It's stronger than all of it," she exclaimed. "More than being thirsty, more than worrying about my family, more than being scared..." She looked at me wildly, willing me to get it. "As soon as I opened my eyes...you were there. I could barely look away from you! And the pull! That's what this is, right?"

"My family believes so."

She stiffened in my arms. "You...don't?"

Could I ever say anything right? "I do." I wanted to explain it to her, but she shifted closer to me, moving her hips in a way that made me lose my ability to speak. She was only settling herself in my lap, but she may have well have done it on purpose for the reaction it brought. "Bella," I said hoarsely. God, I was hard.

She pulled her head back to look at me, her eyes focused on my mouth. "We're mates?" she whispered.

I could only nod.

She brushed her lips against the corner of my mouth, back and forth. "Have you known all along?"

"Uh huh." I was afraid to move, too afraid she would stop.

Slowly her mouth dragged across mine, to the other side. "So you've been holding out on me?"

Trying, I wanted to say, trying so very hard. "We didn't know each other," I said lamely. "I couldn't just..." Her mouth hovered directly over mine and I couldn't finish. Instead I closed the gap, pressing my lips to hers, like I'd wanted to for days.

I shouldn't have worried about my reaction, it was hers that surprised both of us. I found myself pulled on top of her, between her legs. Her mouth did things I'd never thought of, sucking and tasting, forcing our tongues together. I never wanted to stop.

"Bella," I groaned into her, as she dragged my hand to her breast. Oh, God, her breasts. I pushed up her shirt to see them, to kiss them. "Can I?" Not even waiting for her answer to pull them into my mouth.

I felt her wriggling under me, clawing at her top. When she growled in frustration with the zipper to her jeans, I decided to help.

She sighed once I'd removed them, raking her hands through her hair and arching from the ground. "Edward, please," she begged.

I stopped, and I was amazed that I could. Bella was spread out before me, the first woman I'd seen this way. She was showing herself to me, giving herself to me, and I wanted it.

"Bella," I said, stilling her legs. She was so soft, and the smell of her...I'd never get it out of my head. "Is this what you want...here?" I asked, gesturing to the woods around us. She hadn't really said anything since we'd kissed, which wasn't like her. Doubt seeped into her expression, and I squeezed her legs where I held them.

"Don't, Bella. I want you." I removed my own shirt and jeans and kneeled between her legs again. "I want this," I said, taking her hand and putting it on me. Her touch was better than I imagined, and I rocked into her grip, watching, fascinated. "I want you to be sure."

Bella's eyes widened, and she reached for my other hand, bringing me closer, never stopping her rhythm. "You don't trust this is what I really want?" She dragged my fingers between her legs, gently placing them against her. "I want this, too, Edward. I want you. You're mine."

I almost came then. "I won't leave you," I promised, a warning really, as I lowered myself between her legs. "There won't ever be another, for either of us." She deserved a better explanation of what being mated meant, but I didn't think I'd be getting to it.

"You make this right," she said, so quietly I almost missed it. "I won't need any other," she promised.

"Bella," I said, sinking deep into her, gasping as she did. Coherent thought was lost, again, as I instinctually thrust over and over. I had no idea what I was doing, but when Bella locked her legs around me and growled, I let go of my worry.

It was all of it. The way she felt around me, her skin against mine, the sounds she made...she felt right. And then Bella cursed.

"Fuck, Edward. Harder," she gasped.

My eyes, which I hadn't realized I'd closed in concentration, shot open. She was coming, and that was it for me. I couldn't be inside of her and watch her, or hear her screaming my name, and I finished as she did.

"God, Bella," I whispered. I was still hard and was finding it difficult to stop moving in and out. I'd certainly heard my family going at it for hours at a time, never realizing it was because they could. I pulled back reluctantly and laid my head on her chest.

Her fingers were in my hair. "That smell," she mused. "Promise me I'll never smell it again on you, unless I'm involved."

I promised.


	10. Chapter 10

Deliver Us

"We have about an hour," I said, shoving my phone back in my pocket. Alice and Jasper had driven until they crossed paths with Emmett and Rose, at which point Alice had texted me. "Bella?"

She'd disappeared into the bathroom as soon as we returned to the cabin.

"Bella?" I gently knocked on the door, and it opened, not having latched.

She was naked, staring at herself in the bathroom mirror, her face inches from it. "My eyes..."

I wasn't looking at her eyes, but at her profile, bent, naked, her ass pushed...

"Why aren't they yellow, like yours?" she asked seriously, turning to face me.

"Haven't you...?" It was pointless, I was pushing off my pants before I could even finish the question. "Haven't you looked...?"

But Bella was distracted as well. She dropped to her knees, crawling toward me. Her hands brushed up my legs to pull herself in front of me, stopping at my hips. I could feel her hair graze my thighs as she looked, tilting her head.

"You don't have to-" The sight of me, sliding into her mouth, shut me the hell up. Yes, she did, yes, she had to. All day long, if she wanted. I had no idea if I should worry, if her newborn strength should cause me to fear. When she growled and sucked me harder, further into her mouth, I ceased to think and reached for the doorway behind me to brace myself. She was ravenous, and I came hard, splintering the wood under my hands.

"Edward, please," she moaned, stroking me.

I looked down at her and watched, as her other hand moved between her own legs. Should I? Was it...is this how it was? We'd only been together the one time. There was nothing for me to go on, aside from my own family. I'd been hard for Bella for so long, I was almost used to it. We could stop, if she liked. There would be other times. Then her scent hit me.

"Turn around," I almost growled, not recognizing my voice. "All fours." She hissed and did as I'd asked. It was a view I'd imagined a few times. More than a few.

"Bella," I groaned, slipping into her. She immediately pushed back onto me, my hips slapping against her ass. It was my undoing. I loved her, I would do anything to protect her, but right then, I wanted to fuck her. I felt her feet wrap behind my thighs as she ground against me, and I let go. Of everything. I felt no guilt as I thrust, over and over. I wasn't embarrassed when she slid toward to wall, covering her head with her arms to protect herself. There was no shame in my desperation to slam back in each time I pulled out.

She was chanting, my name, God's, random, meaningless words, until she came, and it was like nothing I'd ever known. I pushed, as far as I could go, and clung to her back as I finished, as well.

It was a few minutes until either of us spoke. We'd flattened out a bit, so that I'd slid between her legs, and I was enjoying the friction of her thighs. Three orgasms in as many hours, I was feeling pretty full of myself.

"I've never felt anything like that before," she said quietly. Her head rested on her folded arms, but her hair hid her face.

Oh God, had I hurt her? "Bella, are you okay?" I shifted completely off her to try to see her. "I'm sorry, where...are you...?" How could I have been so thoughtless? I was an ass.

"Edward, no." Abruptly she flipped over, sitting up. She was staring, thinking hard.

I sat, too, and tried to ignore the way her hair fell across her breasts.

Bella leaned into me, against my shoulder. "You were a virgin, weren't you?"

"You could tell?" Had I been terrible? Had I not pleased her? I shouldn't have let her blow-

"No, it's not...You said you never had anyone. I just now realized what that meant." Her face was sad. "I wish I had waited for you, that's all."

A part of me was fuming, imagining someone else inside where I'd just been, but I pushed it away. "I'm sorry I'm not more experienced," I admitted. I was. I was probably awkward, at best.

She laughed. "You definitely know what you're doing, Edward."

"I'm willing to practice," I joked, but secretly, I was pleased with the compliment. It wasn't like I hadn't seen and heard it all, these past years. There were plenty of things I was hoping to try.

We both looked around, taking in the state of the bathroom.

"Maybe we should give them the main house," she sighed. I'd have to fix the door jamb, and patch one of the walls.

"Maybe you shouldn't stand naked in front of the mirror," I suggested.

"Oh," she gasped, her hands flying to her eyes. "That's what I was asking you. Why are my eyes this color?"

"Animal blood dilutes their original color. Your irises started out red." Had she not looked at herself before now? Bella's eyes were almost rust-colored. "They'll probably settle out soon." Her eyes would be amber, like Emmett's. The rest of us had lighter eyes, more yellow.

"What color were yours?" she asked.

"Green." Another moment passed.

"What?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"Sorry?"

"You're staring." She stood and grabbed a towel, covering up.

Bella was so different from the women I knew. Those in my family, those I'd heard. "You're amazing," I said sincerely. Female vampires were, without a doubt, beautiful creatures, and this one had never bothered to look, to see her change. "You don't have to cover yourself, Bella. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," I said softly.

She wanted to shoot me down, I could see it. To ask me, what did I know? "I've seen everything, Bella, I assure you." I may have been virginal, but I wasn't sheltered.

She was still doubtful, but she wasn't arguing. It was a start.

"We should dress," I suggested, though it was the last thing I wanted to do. Rose and Emmett would be here any minute, probably. I suspected we'd be spending a lot of time away from the houses. At least, I could hope.

We waited, Bella in my lap, on the steps of the cabin, until we heard them on the road. I could feel her trying to remain calm, quieting her desire to run for cover.

I watched my brother and sister leave the truck. Something Emmett had said, out of my range, had angered Rose, which was not unusual.

"Edward!" he said, his voice booming. He wanted to come closer, but held back, and I was grateful for his kindness.

"Emmett, Rose," I said, standing and stepping forward. "This is Bella."

"Hi." She stayed behind me, but waved, her eyes locked on my brother. It wasn't the wariness I'd seen with Jasper, there was no fear.

Emmett, of course, was brimming with enthusiasm. "Almost forgot," he exclaimed, and pulled some bags from the back of his truck. "Esme sent these along," he mumbled, dropping them a safe distance from us. "She snuck a couple of things..." he explained, gesturing to one of the bags.

Up until this point, Rose had been quiet, taking in Bella's appearance. "You mean stole," she huffed. I got from her head, that Esme, when visiting Bella's father, had slipped into Bella's room and taken some things she might want.

"It's some of your books, and a sweater..." Bella leapt from the porch before I could finish, tearing into the bag.

"Thank Esme for me, please," she said tearfully. "Tell her, I said thank you," she repeated, nodding at Emmett.

"I will," he promised, wide-eyed. Emmett was not sure he trusted Bella, but I knew he liked her. Instead of jealousy, I felt relief. He was thinking how different Bella was, from what he had expected, and I nodded in agreement.

"Can you...?" Bella asked, looking at me and pointing to the bag. "I don't want to rip anything."

"Sure." I laid out the books, and pulled out an envelope with some photographs. "Your family?" I guessed, leafing through them with her. She was afraid to touch them.

"Yeah," she whispered, sniffing.

Rose had had enough. She thought it was pointless, this trip down memory lane, and was most concerned with Bella revealing us to anyone back home. "I'll be inside," she announced, turning toward the lodge.

"Thank you, Rose," Bella said, standing.

"It wasn't my idea," Rose answered, walking away.

Emmett and I both looked at Bella, waiting to see her reaction. "She's not happy about all of this, is she?" she asked.

My brother shook his head and let out a small laugh. "Uh, no."

"I'm sorry about that."

Emmett glanced at me. "Hey, Bella...it's not your fault. Rose'll come around, don't worry. You're family, it's the way it is." I knew he wanted to touch her, to reassure her, because that's the way he was.

"But she's your mate, I'm sure you'd rather see her happy." Bella scowled up at the door Rose had gone through.

I wasn't sure any of us had ever seen Rose happy.

"She's plenty happy, don't worry," Emmett said, waggling his eyebrows. "How about you two? What have you been up to?"

"Emmett-"

"Edward's been keeping me very happy," Bella said, gathering up the bags and walking up the steps to our cabin.

Emmett burst out laughing and punched my arm. "Edward! You filthy bas-"

"Emmett!" Like Rose, I'd had enough. It would only get worse. "We'll be by later."

"Are you sure? You got a lot of years to account for," he teased, backing away.

"Good bye, Emmett."

"If you need any pointers..." he offered.

I shut the door behind me, my brother's laughter still audible. "Sorry about that."

Bella was stretched out on the bed, holding out her arms to me. "You don't need any pointers, Edward."

"No?" I gladly went to her, somewhat rattled by my brother. "You're...okay with...what we've done?"

She pulled me so I was resting on her chest, and I sighed at the feeling of her fingers in my hair. "Yeah, I'm okay with it," she said, laughing.

"I'm more than okay with it." As evidenced by the hard on I was slowly rubbing against her thigh. I wanted to be embarrassed, but I wasn't. I did have a lot of years to account for, but something told me, these feelings for her, wouldn't abate.

Bella sighed and shifted her hips. "I need to eat," she said wistfully.

"You should eat, then." My hand had found its way under her shirt, onto her breast.

"Edward."

"I'm stopping," I promised, brushing my thumb across her nipple. She was so soft. Before she could protest, I lifted her shirt and started licking. God, the taste of her. Which gave me another idea...

Suddenly she was out from under me, smirking in the doorway. "Five minutes," she said, straightening her clothes.

"For what?"

"Give me five minutes," she said, slinking backward, out of the cabin. "Then come and get me," she said in a rush, taking off for the trees.

I darted after her, thrilled with the chase, and stopped, watching her go.

I'd give her two.


	11. Chapter 11

Deliver Us

Bella had made it further, and in a different direction, than I thought she would have. I could hear her pace slow ahead of me, when a very distinct smell blew over me.

"Shit." Humans. Bella's speed picked back up, and I took off after her in earnest. "Fuck!" How could I have been so careless? I caught sight of a flash of her hair and felt some relief. While she was a newborn, with increased speed and strength, I was still faster.

She abruptly stopped, crouching and growling, and I narrowly missed ramming into her. At the last second she turned and hissed at me, before dropping to her knees and covering her face once she saw it was me.

"Bella, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." I wrapped myself around her. "I never should have-"

"Edward-" she cried. "I'm sorry!"

"No, it's my fault, don't apologize! You didn't do anything, you didn't...attack anyone!" What might have happened, if she'd actually reached her prey...

Bella shook violently and pried herself from me. "I could have...I almost...I turned on you! I'm so sorry!"

I stared at her, confused. "Wait...what are you apologizing for? That you almost attacked me?" Was she serious? She nodded, looking ashamed. "Bella! Do you know what that scent was?"

Her eyes glazed as she remembered it, before she roused herself out of it. "I couldn't stop," she said quietly. "But then there was something behind me...I had to stop."

My jaw dropped, and I stared like the idiot I was. "You had to stop?"

"I didn't know what to do," she admitted. "I wanted whatever that was...but something was chasing me."

Her instinct for self-preservation kicked in, and she listened to it. "You are unbelievable," I whispered.

Bella's face fell. "I'm so sorry."

"No," I said softly. "Those were humans you smelled."

"Oh."

"What's unbelievable, is that you were able to give up your prey in order to protect yourself." What newborn, overcome with bloodlust, would stop to look over her shoulder?

"But I almost attacked you," she said tearfully.

"It's okay," I assured her. She looked at me doubtfully, and I nodded. "It's...it's amazing that you could stop, Bella. You didn't do anything wrong." She'd done everything right, more than any vampire I'd known. "You have no idea."

Bella scrambled to her feet and shook out her arms. "You're not just saying that?"

I laughed. "No, I'm not." God, I wanted her, and she knew it.

"I'm still hungry," she said, her eyes raking over me. There it was again, her ability to put her priorities in order, and she was far better at it than I was at the moment.

"Right. Sure." Damn. "We should probably..." I stammered, gesturing over my shoulder.

"Go where there aren't any humans?" she offered.

I was thinking, fuck against one of those trees, but she was right. "Yeah." I stayed next her as we ran, until the smell of mountain lion was upon us, and I let her veer off to follow it. "I'll stay close," I promised, slowing my steps. Bella nodded and went on. By the time I caught up, she had finished.

"Sorry, there was only one," she apologized, staring longingly at the carcass at her feet.

"It's fine." I slid down against one of the trees and stretched out my legs, closing my eyes. It had been quite a day. I could hear her, pushing the dead animal into the brush.

"Do you ever share?" she asked, easing onto my lap to straddle me.

"Share what?" Mates? Ha, never.

"Your food?"

I opened my eyes to find her staring intently at me. "I haven't." I thought about it. "We hunt together, but..." I couldn't recall seeing my family feeding from the same animal.

"Hmm." Her mouth was on my neck, kissing and licking me, and my hands immediately went to grab her ass. I was, by all accounts, the horny teenager I'd been at my turning.

"Bella," I groaned. I found her mouth with mine, and I could taste the lion's blood. Before I could ask, she leapt up to pull off her jeans, returning to my lap to undo mine. She hovered above me, waiting, and I wondered why.

"Pull me down," she whispered, licking at my ear.

I did, the whole way, hissing as I filled her. How many times had I taken her today, and it still wasn't enough? "Bella, I-"

She pulled back and looked at me, though her hips continued to move, keeping me deep inside. "You what?"

I loved her. And this. All of it. "I love you."

Her eyes softened, and her movements slowed. "I know you do," she said, smiling. She was happy, and it was ridiculous, given what we were doing, how satisfied that made me feel. "I love you, too."

Something opened in me then, deep in my chest, spreading throughout my whole body. Were I the type to believe the dead had a soul...that's where I would have said I felt it. We both felt it. Our grips around each other tightened, and my thrusts deepened. I whispered into her mouth as I came, and swallowed her sobs as she did. "I love you," I repeated. She nodded, and we stayed like that for a while, as she calmed down.

Eventually she eased off of me to settle on my thighs. "I'm not used to having anyone."

How well I understood. "Me, neither."

"I'll try to remember that," she promised.

So would I. "We both will, okay?" I caught the sound of someone's thoughts, and recognized my brother, coming closer. "I think Rose and Emmett are out here."

Bella immediately sprung up to pull on her pants, as I refastened mine. She hastily smoothed out her hair and pointed to her face. "Do I...?"

"You're clean." I reached for her hand. "Come on." We met up with my siblings on opposite sides of the stream.

Emmett whistled and waved theatrically, making Bella laugh, while Rose took us in. She thought Bella was too plain...much plainer than she was. There was satisfaction in it for her, but she wondered what I saw in Bella. I realized Rose was jealous. She glared at me across the water, knowing I'd read her thoughts, and took off up the stream.

"Gotta go," Emmett hollered, winking.

"They're not like Jasper and Alice," Bella observed, backing up to leap across the stream.

"No," I agreed. "They're not." I watched her graceful crossing and followed.

"He's so...warm," she went on. "And she's not."

"She is with him."

Bella nodded and continued picking her way along the treeline. "That's good, then."

Though she wasn't asking for one, I felt I should give an explanation on Rose's behalf. "She's never forgiven me for not choosing her." It was stupid, really, in that she never even wanted me. I supposed it was the principle of it. I'd gone at least ten steps until I realized Bella was not walking with me. "Bella?"

She stood behind me, with her brows arched. "Choose her for what?"

"As my mate." Though it came out more as a question.

"Rose wanted you as her mate?" There was a tone to Bella's voice, that brought a strange sensation along the back of my neck.

"Uh, no. Carlisle thought..." Bella was looking back the way we'd just come, as if she could still see Rose and Emmett.

"Did you want her?" she asked finally.

"No!"

"Have the two of you...?"

Ugh. "Never." I almost laughed, but thought better of it. "Nothing...ever."

"She's beautiful, Edward. Why not?"

Because she was Rose. "I've never felt anything for her. And now she's trying to figure out, why it is I feel anything for you."

Bella stared for a long time. "So this is about her, not about us."

"Yes." I held out my hand, patiently waiting until she took it, and led us back to the cabin. I wasn't sure how to take her silence, it was killing me. Once we made it inside, I cracked. "Bella, I'm sorry. I never should have said anything about Rose. I don't know what I was thinking. She doesn't mean anything to me, except as a sister."

"Huh?"

I didn't think she'd heard a word of my rant. "You're so quiet, I figured it was something I said..."

Bella cupped my cheek with her hand and gave me the tenderest of kisses. "I was thinking. Not about Rose," she clarified. Her brow furrowed as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. She stared out the window, glancing back to me every now and then. "When I was chasing that smell..." Her eyes were sad. "What would you have done, do you think?"

"Killed-"

She shook her head. "No, not about the human. I've never asked about you, about how you became this."

I had no idea what she was after. "My turning?" I asked, and she nodded. "Oh. I was dying...my parents had died. Carlisle was our doctor. Spanish influenza..." I hadn't thought about it in ages. "He promised my mother, before she died..."

Bella was taking it all in, hanging on my every word. "What would you have done, if you're parents had still been alive?"

Ah. "Yeah...I don't know." I could barely remember myself back then.

She nodded thoughtfully. "What about the others?"

"With the exception of Alice, they all left families behind." It was a given, and Bella was just now coming to understand it.

"I can't see him again, can I?" she asked, heartbroken.

"Charlie?" I moved next to her. "We can't show ourselves to humans." I remembered her phone conversation with my father, her longing to let Charlie know she was okay. "I'm sorry."

"For the first time, I wish I could go back," she admitted shakily. She still wasn't looking at me.

"It's okay."

"I'm sorry for saying that," she whispered, reaching out for my hand.

"Don't be." We'd been through it, all of us in one form or another. "You should talk to my parents," I said, putting to words the thoughts I'd had many times since meeting her. "I'm doing a terrible job here."

Bella smiled and finally turned toward me. "You're not running some vampire training school, Edward," she said, laughing as she repeated my own words. "I need to talk to Jake's dad, I think."

I didn't like the idea of it, but I knew it was jealousy on my part, that my mate wanted contact with anyone outside my immediate circle. Anyone outside of me, was more like it. I needed my parents, I realized. "I'd like to call home, too." My human family died before I did, and I had no idea how the fuck to help Bella cope with never seeing her father again. I had been too consumed with being a vampire to mourn my own parents for long. "I think it might help to hear my parents' perspectives."

"It's hard dealing with all this, from here," she said carefully.

I'd been thinking the same thing. "It is," I agreed. "We just...we had to get you out of Forks. This was the closest option." I could hear the thoughts of Emmett and Rose coming closer.

Bella cocked her head and smirked, studying me. "Do you hear them?"

"Do you?" How had she known?

"Not yet, but I can tell when you're listening."

I kissed her, I couldn't stop myself. I didn't want to stop myself. I'd waited so long for her, I just hadn't known it.


End file.
